Noel Mullins
ONE of the highlights of this season was watching East Down Foxhounds huntsman Declan Feeney give a masterclass in the art of hunting hounds in difficult scenting conditions at the meet at the Ramble Inn, near Downpatrick, Co Down.
Owned by Johnny Grant, the inn has been in his family for over 100 years. Brave Inca, winner of the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle, was foaled by Denis MacAuley nearby, as was the Hennessey Gold Cup winner Bright Highway, bred just down the road by Arnie Ennis. Racehorse trainers Garry McGill and Brian Hamilton train nearby and the hunt was welcomed onto the Hamilton farm later that day.
It is an exceptionally scenic area which features the Mourne mountains, the Slieve Croop scenic trail and, starting at Clough, St Patrick’s Trail.
Breeding the right type of hounds for this country is taken seriously by the East Downs, with huntsman Declan Feeney and former master for 36 seasons Craig Caven working closely planning the breeding programme. Caven has retired the chesnut Irish Draught hunter who carried Feeney for 10 seasons and Craven himself for another 10 years as field master.
On my last visit some years ago I had the privilege of meeting Mrs Margaret Irvine, almost certainly the oldest hunt car follower at 103 years young. She had very clear memories of hunting with the East Downs but sadly she passed away in the meantime.
The huntsman was hunting his son Conor’s lovely coloured hunter by the eventing stallion Glenhill Gold, out of a Diamond Chin mare, who was immaculately turned out by his wife Cathy. Young Feeney is an Ulster Champion boxer and is now training to be a farrier in Shropshire. Hunting is in the family as Feeney’s own father John Michael whipped-in to the Iveagh Foxhounds. His mother Doreen has published some wonderful poetry especially one on hunting from the fox’s point of view.
Local sheep farmer Willie McDowell was at the kennels, as was Michael Smith, who previously whipped-in for 15 seasons. Having organised the meet, he was always in the right place to see a fox break cover.
Former master Miss Kirkpatrick was following, as was Jim Erskine and his son Johnny, both mounted on bicycles, to watch daughter Ellen on horseback. Galwegian Dr Ethna O’Gorman, a well known dressage judge originally from Salthill, has great memories of hunting with Michael Dempsey of the Galway Blazers.
Field master Pat Turley’s son Patrick rides for Brian Hamilton. Patrick’s brother Andrew was hunting, as was Ewan Finlay, member of a successful tetrathlon team, runners up in the Irish and British Championships.
Master farrier Eamonn McCann was joined by veterinary student Daisy Dillon and Brian Toner, who starred in Game Of Thrones, doubling for actors Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth, and Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon. Donna Quale and her daughter Toni just made the meet in time.
Ideal conditions make a huntsman and his pack look good but for me the real test is in difficult conditions. With scent poor, foxes were hard to find but huntsman Declan Feeney matched the task over the undulating hills, patches of gorse, and fields of kale. Without the services of a whipper-in on the day he gave a master class in working hounds just using his voice. He encouraged them to draw wide and only where he wanted them, praising them when doing it well, and then with a change in tone reprimanding them if they were skirting or attempting to draw outside the boundary. Hounds weaved a complex pattern across the kale like a flock of low-flying seagulls. Feeney is the product of a long hunting apprenticeship, serving his time with the South Tyrone, Cheshire, South Shropshire, Flint & Denbigh, the Meynell, and whipping into the East Downs before being appointed huntsman. He is now in his 14th season with the East Down.
Field master Pat Turley kept the followers well back, appreciating a professional at work.
The early draws at James Robinson’s long wood at Ballykilbeg, the kale at Dorans and Andrew Galways at Tumaltys, and Brian Hamilton’s at Ballyclunt with the Mourne Mountains in the background, although picturesque, were all blank.
However good huntsmen don’t panic and in the meantime I savoured the sight of a woodcock rising over Erskine’s Pond with its erratic and fluttering flight pattern.
Perseverance finally paid off as hounds found a fox near the point-to-point course in Tyrella in the Orchard Bog in an area only 100 yards wide. The fox ran out at the top end and on, eventually crossing the road with former joint-master Craig Caven in exactly the right place to mark the line.
The fox set his sights on Craig Mountain, sometimes thought to have been named after the former master, but he is not that old. Hounds screamed away on the line but lost him near the top of the mountain.
Feeney collected the pack and came back and drew the valley and in a small clump of brambles they had another fox who sat tight in the laneway away again. Now in their sights, they coursed him for a few fields and up towards Tyrella church, running back to the brambles again and on to Orchard Bog before hounds pressed him in the direction of Craig Mountain. They were flat out in pursuit as darkness started to close in when the huntsman decided to call them up in failing light.
Feeney delivered the goods again and provided the followers with what the true art of venery is all about – just a huntsman with a perfect relationship with his hounds. With no whipper-in assisting him on the day, this was real hunting.
FACTFILE
Chairman: Pat Turley
Masters: James Armstrong and Brian McConville
Huntsman: Declan Feeney
Whippers-in: James Armstrong and Conor Feeney
Field master: Pat Turley
HISTORY
Matthew Forde based in Seaforde, Co Down hunted a pack from 1768, which became the Lecale Harriers. In 1887, the East Down Harriers were formed and changed to a foxhound pack in 1947.